By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
“There is no problem with our water,” Decatur Mayor Dan Rickord said rather emphatically at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.
The subject came up due to a recent stir caused by a letter sent to Decatur water customers. The city was mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to send the letter to its water customers.
It talked about the possibility that customers’ service lines MIGHT have lead in them. It didn’t mean that a recipient’s lines had lead in them, only that it is a possibility.
A service line is the underground pipe that connects a property to the water main in the street.
“We test for it (lead) all the time,” Rickord said at the meeting.”I want to get it out there that we have no problems here.”
He noted that the EPA mandated that the letter be sent out all across Indiana.
The mayor said it would likely cost $5 million to $10 million to replace all the water lines in Decatur.
The EPA has set the maximum contaminant level goal for lead in drinking water at zero because lead is a toxic metal that can be harmful to human health, even at low exposure levels. Lead can accumulate in the body over time.
Young children, infants and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to the effects of lead because a smaller quantity is needed to affect them. A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can significantly affect a child, the EPA says.
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